All articles by Liz Hamson (old contact)
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Insight
Lobbying down under
The Property Council of Australia has scored some valuable victories for the industry.
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Insight
Occupiers count the cost of foot-and-mouth
Federation of small businesses calls for urgent government action as effects of epidemic spread beyond farming and tourism.
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News
Developers say it's no fair cop
The developers shortlisted to build the new Criminal Records Bureau in Liverpool are losing their grip on development sites because of stalling by the Home Office. The department has delayed making a decision for two months while it reviews its IT provision, following the summer's Passport Agency fiasco. It ...
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News
Industry sets agenda to lobby Parliament
Stamp duty, the Urban Task Force and the Commercial Property Code have been identified by property industry groups as key lobbying issues for the new parliamentary sitting in October. According to Richard Kauntze, BPF deputy-director-general: Stamp Duty is the big issue and will remain so. The BPF ...
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News
ISVA sets own agenda for merger with RICS
The RICS will be urged to ditch plans to create 13 faculties or risk jeopardising its merger with the Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers, Property Week has learned. Christopher Legrand, head of the ISVA's professional services, argues for the number of faculties to be slashed to ...
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News
Bold mixed-use plan for 'Canary Wharf II'
An audacious masterplan to transform London Docklands' South Quay and Millharbour into a West End-style mixed-use area is being formulated. Two weeks ago, Tower Hamlets Borough Council held a private briefing with landowners in the area to solicit support for a development blueprint. Leading planning teams including ...
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News
Chicago firm Equis jockeys for position in UK market
Equis International is preparing to become the first US property consultant to open in the UK without a domestic partner as it launches an ambitious drive into Europe. The Chicago-based firm, with 26 US offices, also intends to bring the first purely occupier-orientated service to the UK. Introduction of ...
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News
Arrowcroft returns fire after Kaufman claims
The developer behind a troubled scheme on greenbelt land in Manchester has hit back at allegations of lies, deception, double-dealing and blackmail made within the protection of Parliament. At a House of Commons session last week, MP Gerald Kaufman said that Arrowcroft, which owns the Denton site, attempted ...
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News
Crash landing in Purkiss retrial
A London surveying firm has lost a five-figure fee for failing to prove the terms of an instruction agreement in a precedent-setting case at the High Court last week. The case, brought by Purkiss Hanrahan against Varig Brazil Airline, initially went to court in July 1998, but the ruling against ...
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Markets
Video Conferencing
Until last month, if you weren't at an auction, you couldn't fully experience the action. Internet bidding was alright as far as it went, but you still couldn't see what you were bidding for. The results were only available when the sale was done and dusted. Jones Lang Lasalle 's ...
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Markets
Taking stock of local authority property
The unlikeliest of real estate roads, grass verges, toilets is put to auction by local authorities. What's more, it sells. This report explains why local authorities are the latest converts to the auction scene
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News
Blackstone to extend West End influence
One of London s most famous up-market hotels, the Howard near the Strand, has attracted the eye of the owner of its renowned pristine neighbour, the Savoy Hotel. Blackstone Real Estate Advisers, the aggressive US buyout fund that acquired the Savoy Group last year, is thought to have offered ...
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News
Securitised vehicle for housing ‘the only way’
A cross-industry group will lobby the government this month to back a securitised vehicle to promote large-scale investment in the residential sector. The model the group has chosen for the private rented market is the US-style Real Estate Investment Trust. Representatives from the RICS , PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Nabarro Nathanson ...
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News
Supply crunch forces firms over the Channel
Major UK occupiers are being forced to take their property requirements to continental Europe as the domestic market fails to meet demand. This week, Sainsbury's became the latest company to cross the Channel by taking its 9,290 sq m (100,000 sq ft) distribution space requirement to Nieppe, near ...
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News
Tax time limit will hurt pre-lets, warns BPF
New stamp duty legislation will drastically reduce the number of developments coming on line, the British Property Federation has warned the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In a letter to Gordon Brown, the BPF attacks Schedule 12 of the Finance Bill, which it says makes the ...
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News
Lawyers criticise new procedures for leases
The Lord Chancellor s department has botched the implementation of landlord and tenant reforms by making it harder to sign short leases, claimed property lawyers this week. The new procedures, which come into force on 26 April, complicate the exclusion of security of tenure agreements when leases are signed. Exclusions, ...
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News
Disney calls the toon on Welsh theme park
Legend Court has formed a joint venture company with Group One of Florida, the developer of Disney World, to develop its 2m sq ft theme park in South Wales. The joint venture company, Legend Court Operations Limited, will jointly finance the park and Group One will develop and operate ...
